DiCaprio caper catches up

'Rings' remains lord in New Zealand

“Catch Me If You Can” set a cracking pace out of the blocks in Australia and Taiwan this weekend, and consolidated last week’s No. 1 debut in Mexico.

However, it failed to catch “Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers” on helmer Peter Jackson’s New Zealand home turf.

The DreamWorks crime comedy, starring Leo DiCaprio as conman Frank Abagnale Jr, dislodged “Rings” from top spot in Australia, where it took $3.65 million from 300 screens, in four days.

The preliminary results from Taiwan, gleaned from just 18 screens in Taipei, show “Catch Me” at No. 1 with a B.O. of about $400,000.

In Mexico three-day receipts were about $1.1 mill from 303 screens, a 37% drop from last week’s debut but still a stronger perf than “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” which opened in second spot with about $1 million.

Kiwis remain loyal to “Rings,” which is firmly lodged atop the totem in week four. Fox’s James Bond instalment “Die Another Day” probably held second spot in lap two in New Zealand. “Catch Me” took $242,000 from 46 screens in four days, third in the marketplace.

Germany and neighbouring Austria are usually similar markets but the anomaly that sees “8 Mile” dominate one and “Rings” dominate the other, continues.

In Austria Eminem starrer “8 Mile” remained No. 1 for a second week, taking about $1 million in three days from 70 screens, beating “Rings” in week four.

In Germany “Rings” holds No. 1 spot, with “8 Mile” at No. 2 for a second weekend, having taken about $3.1 million in four days from 550 screens.

In Blighty “Rings” looks likely to hold top spot in its fourth lap. “Gangs of New York” opened in second, taking about $3.5 million in three days and UIP’s “The Tuxedo” is third with $1.8 million from 300 screens.